Thursday, 29 August 2024

TAFE funding

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:22): (651) My question is to the Minister for Skills and TAFE. Minister, if you value TAFE teachers and TAFE, why are Victorian TAFE teachers the lowest paid in the country and Victorian TAFEs the lowest funded in the country?

Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Regional Development) (12:22): Again, I want to thank the member opposite in terms of an opportunity for us to talk about how we support and value TAFE teachers and indeed support the TAFE system, because this government believes that the TAFE system is important. Those opposite hate TAFE. They cut 2000 teachers out of the –

Ann-Marie Hermans: On a point of order, President, I would like to ask that you draw the minister back to the actual question.

The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mrs Hermans. I think the minister was responding to the preamble, but I am sure she will get to the answer.

Gayle TIERNEY: As the member well knows, there are negotiations currently underway that are covering a number of issues, and those negotiations are being conducted by the VTA and the AEU. Of course I have covered off on a number of these points in answer to the substantive and the supplementary question of one of her colleagues earlier in question time today. The fact of the matter is that this government does strongly support TAFE teachers. That is why we added the certificate IV in training and assessment to the free TAFE list, so that we could have more TAFE teachers recruited into the system where they did not have to pay tuition fees to be able to work in the system. We have also funded the TAFE teacher incentive program, which I have taken this house through several times. And of course we have backed TAFE teachers and all TAFE staff and students by investing $4.6 billion into the TAFE system since 2014 – something that those opposite did not do, because what they did was rip money out of the TAFE system and sack 2000 TAFE teachers. They also shut down 22 campuses.

Ann-Marie Hermans: On a point of order, President, I would like to draw the minister back to the actual question about the funding for TAFE and this being the lowest funded state.

The PRESIDENT: I actually did hear the minister quote a figure, so I will ask the minister to continue.

Gayle TIERNEY: I thank the member for her interjection because again it provides me the ability to repeat what I said in terms of her other colleague, and that is that the most recent data shows that Victoria’s own contribution to vocational education increased by 48 per cent between 2014 and 2022 and that joint expenditure is the second highest in Australia. So all I will say is: get your facts right, and also remember what you did when you were last in power – what you did to the TAFE teachers and what you did to the TAFE system.

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:26): The Australian Education Union said:

When Labor was elected in 2014, they promised to save TAFE. But Victoria has had the lowest funded TAFE system in the country for the last 10 years.

They also said:

… it’s not the case that the state government had ‘saved TAFE’ as they promised to do.

Can you explain, Minister, why the Allan Labor government failed in its promise to save TAFE?

Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Regional Development) (12:26): I have got to say: wow. Seriously, if you really believe that, wow. The fact of the matter is, as I have said time and time again, there are negotiations underway, and of course people will say certain things at certain times to attempt to promote their position at the negotiating table. So it is hanging your hat on something that someone said leading up to or around negotiations when the facts remain for all to see that we have actually increased vocational education expenditure by 48 per cent. The reality is that we have saved TAFE. We turned the switches back on in TAFE. We have built new TAFEs. We have rebuilt and refurbished so many facilities – $4.6 billion in the TAFE system – and we are the nation leader.